The Outliers
by Zsasusaku
Summary: Sakura, the unassuming simple beauty gets caught up in the fast life of stealing, gambling and drugs when she and her friends TenTen, Ino, and Hinata get mixed up with the wrong crowd. Major SasuSaku Minor NejiTen InoSaiShika NaruHina
1. The Sweet and the Beautiful

"Your total is $14.59." The cash register let out a loud ching as she opened it and dropped the money in the drawer while taking out the appropriate change. "Here's your change. Thank you for shopping at Food Mart! " She said with a bright warm smile.

She was always like this, bright, jubilant, and simple. She was a classic beauty to all that laid eyes on her. Her soft pink hair that barely touched her shoulders, her porcelain skin that looked soft to the touch, her rosy pink lips and striking emerald eyes, her toned but curvy figure that she politely hid under her Food Mart uniform; all those things were the reason the chain of events that would take place over the next few weeks were unexpected to say the least.

"Hey Sakura!" said a tall blonde man with a cheerful smile plastered on his face. "Oh hello !" She looked over and saw her other professors, Sasuke Uchiha and Neji Hyuga standing behind their blonde haired friend and coworker. "How are you guys today?" "We're fine," he said as he handed her a pack of hot dogs, chips, and a box of Budweiser. She smiled as she looked up at the three towering men. "Preparing for the game tonight?" "Mmhm," Sasuke said smiling slightly. He never smiled, only for her. She had to be one of his favorite students. She grasped Trigonometry so quickly, she easily became a teacher's pet. Sakura slightly blushed and looked away as she keyed the information into the cash register. Neji smirked at Sasuke.

"Your total is $7.54," she said sweetly to the men as she held her hand out. "Wait shouldn't it be more?" asked Neji? "Yeaaah but I added my employee discount. It's good to have friends in high places isn't it?" she giggled. The men laughed and Naruto handed her the money. "See you Monday guys." "Bye Sakura!" the men said in unison.

Sakura began to clean up her station as she awaited her next customer. "Mr. Hyuga is soooo cute." Said Tenten, Sakura's coworker as she walked over to Sakura's station. Tenten was a year older than sakura who was 17 at the time, and was studying to become an architect. Sakura smiled at the girl and rolled her eyes. "I'm sure his fiancé thinks so too," sakura said sarcastically. "Ugh shutup shutup! Don't mention her. She ruined everything. Our relationship was so perfect in my head." Sakura burst into laughter. "Don't laugh at me, what about Mr. Uchiha?" Sakura blushed at the mention of his name. I see the way you look at him and the way he smiles at you. You want the D." The girls burst into laughter that was quickly silenced when they saw their boss approach. "Speaking of dicks…" muttered Tenten. "What was that TenTen?" the man asked. He was a tall slender man that wore a dark green button up shirt, black pants and shoes and an orange belt. His name tag read 'Rock Lee'. "Nothing Mr. Lee she said smiling sweetly as she walked back to her station.

"Anyways so Sakura," the man continued, "how's your day going so far?" "Fine Mr. Lee," she said trying to stay as blunt and professional as possible, hoping that he would get the hint. "Great! I bet I can turn your day from fine to fantastic!" he smiled cheekily. She forced an obviously uncomfortable grin. "How's that?" she said. "Well I have 2 tickets to Cold Play and I intended on taking a special young woman with me." He said slyly. "Oh how wonderful… I wonder who she could be," she said gritting her teeth. "You silly willy!" he said as he brushed the tickets playfully across her face. She flinched and said, "That's really sweet of you Mr. Lee but for the last time I would rather keep our relationship professional."

His eyes watered. "I understand…maybe next time." he whimpered as he slowly dragged himself back into his office. Sakura turned with a raised brow to Tenten who was checking out another customer. Tenten mouthed to her, "He's. such. A. CREEPER!" Sakura giggled and began to ring up her next customer as well. "Hi! How are you today," she said.


	2. What could possibly go wrong?

Sakura only lived two blocks away from the store so she walked home every day after work. Each day she would stop at her best friend Ino's mother's flower shop where her friend worked. Into sat slumped over on the counter half asleep. She sat erect when she heard the bell ring meaning that a customer has entered the building.

"Welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop!" she said instinctively. "Oh… it's just you Sakura. You scared me!" she whined. Sakura laughed. "Sleeping on the job again?" Sakura asked sarcastically. "What can I say… Sai and I have been… busy all this week. Late nights you know?" Sakura rolled her eyes. "So what's up forehead?" Ino asked nonchalantly. Sakura glared. "Nothing much pig face I'm just here to drop off the fruit your mom ordered and to see you." Ino and Sakura had a very blatant love/ hate friendship, they always had. "Just sit it on the counter over there," Ino said as she pointed to a counter in the corner of the store. "So what about you?" She continued. "Are you and Kiba thinking about taking the next step?" Sakura blushed. "Not yet… I'm not ready," she said shyly. "I mean I like him a lot… and he keeps telling me that he wants to but I'm just waiting for the right moment you know?"

"Ugh you'll never be ready you've just gotta do it forehead! I knew you were holding out anyways you've let yourself go," Ino smiled evilly. Sakura's eyes widened and then narrowed as she glared at Ino, examining her body's reflection in the window. Ino giggled. "Speaking of getting fat, I really like your makeup Ino it really highlights your swine-like features," Sakura smiled. Ino turned red. "Well at least my forehead doesn't reflect the sun." Ino retorted. "Well that just means that I'm God sent. He made me and you friends so that I could hang around you and use my illuminated forehead to blind guys so that they wouldn't have to look at your face," sakura said as she and Ino stared into each other's eyes. There was silence. Suddenly, the two burst into hysterical laughter.

"Sakura what would I do without you?" Ino said smiling at her long time best friend. "Sleep on the job," sakura said as she exited the store.

Sakura arrived home a few minutes before 7:00 p.m. Sakura and her grandfather lived in a small rundown house that his father had built. "Grandad… I'm home! Grandad!" Sakura peeked into the kitchen and living room looking for signs of her father. There was no answer. She noticed that the door in the hallway was open that led to their basement. Sakura opened the door and slowly crept down the stairs stopping on the third step above the basement floor. "Grandad?..." she called hesitantly almost in a whisper.

"SAKURA!" a deep voice said from behind her. She yelped at the figure. It was a tall, stout man wearing an oil covered beige shirt that was pinned to his body by his dingy overalls. The man also wore a welder's mask which made him look almost inhuman. Sakura without thinking, took a frightened step back making her fall onto the hard concrete basement floor. "Oh! Oh no Sakura hunny," said the man behind the mask. He quickly took off his mask to show he wasn't a threat. A wrinkled, rough skinned man's face smiled at her, yet his eyes were bright and kind and his smile was warm and welcoming. "It's me sweetheart," he said helping her up.

"You almost game a heart attack grandad!" she said giggling slighty. "Yes I know I forget that I have the mask on sometimes, I'm so used to it." Sakura's father had died about two years ago in a mining accident a few towns away. After his death, her mother fell apart and wouldn't even look at her. After a few weeks, she just left. No warning and no goodbyes. Sakura had expected it. That left her to her grandfather, a huge, burly man, with a deep voice and piercing green eyes, but who wouldn't hurt a fly. He was a mechanic and had been for over 40 years. His wife died of cancer right before Sakura's father.

They walked up the stairs and into the kitchen together. "So how was your day?" the man asked as he pulled out a pitcher of lemonade from the refrigerator. Sakura simultaneously pulled out two glasses from the maple cabinets above her. She set them down on the table and he began to pour. "Good," she piped. "Was the store busy?" he asked as he took a sip of the ice cold lemonade. "Yes sir. A lot of people are getting ready for the big game tonight. Are you hanging out at the bar to watch?" "Probably. What about you? Do you have any plans?" "Nah. Well Ino and I got invited to a party." "Who's party?" he said raising his salt and pepper brow. "Temari's…" Sakura's grandfather grunted. "You know how I feel about her. She's too old to be hanging around you. She's a bad influence, all that drinking and drugs." "But Tenten's older than me and you like her just fine! And besides, you know im not one to give into peer pressure," she said pouting. "Tenten's in college and she's a responsible young woman. Temari just hangs around the college kids and gets them addicted to all kinds of things. Sakura I dont want you hanging around her do you understand?" Sakura's gaze shifted from her grandfather to the table where they sat. "Yessir," she mumbled.

Later that night as Sakura began to get ready for bed, her grandfather knocked on the door. "Yes grandad?" "Hey poptart," he had been calling her that for as long as she could remember, she assumed it was on account of her pink hair. "I'm heading out, I'll be back after the game. Are you sure you don't want to tag along?" Sakura smiled sweetly at her grandfather as she tied her hair into a loose bun, "A bar full of drunk old men yelling about the game? I'll pass grandad." He smiled and softly. "So what are you going to do tonight? You can't possibly want to stay cooped up in here all night." Sakura scanned the room. The walls were a soft pink color and the crown molding was embroidered with intricate shapes. She and Ino had hung christmas lights on the wall that gave off a soft glow. She had a huge vanity that was covered with makeup, hair accessories and other hair products. Her bed had a plush cherry blossom comforter that slouched to the floor because she had neglected to make up her bed that morning. Other than her disarrayed collection of teddy bears covering the floor and her bed the room was pretty clean, although her grandfather was right. She didn't want to spend all night there.  
"I'm kind of tired. If anything I'll probably go out with Kiba, Ino and Sai. Sai is supposed to be having a small gathering of close friends." "Oh okay sweetheart, have fun and don't get in too late," he said as he closed the door. Sakura sighed and looked over to her bed. She wasn't at all tired like she had told her grandfather, but her plans of going to Temari's party were canceled and Ino and Sai were probably just going to end up having sex while her parents were away at a football party. And the only way to get Kiba away from the television was to tell him that she was ready for him to jump her bones (which she wasn't). So she dragged herself to her bed and plopped down. She picked up her phone from her bed and called Tenten.

Sakura: Hey I'm bored do you have any plans for tonight?

Tenten: Well I thought we were supposed to be going to Temari's party together but I'm guessing your grandad said no?

Sakura: Yep. It kinda gets frustrating, I mean I'm in college, I have a job, I'm practically an ADULT.

Tenten: Then stop whining and just go. He won't know and besides you're gonna be with me. I promise to get you back before 1. And you know how I am Saks at the first sign of trouble I'm out. Besides, I thought you said he trusts me.

Sakura: He does... it's her that he doesn't tust-

Tenten: And you'll be with me not her! And besides Hinata doesn't want to come, you know she hates parties you guys CAN NOT leave me hanging. Please Sakura

Sakura: fine. But if we get caught I'm bringing you down with me.

Tenten: Understood.

And with that she jumped up from her bed and began to get ready for what she expected to be 'one hell of a night'.


End file.
